NBA Cheat Sheet: February 19th

Game Flow Notes

Vegas Lines

HIGH O/U – Warriors vs. TrailBlazers – The highest total on the night is 220. This game pits one of the league’s mediocre teams against the league’s best. Curry and Draymond are top plays tonight. For the TrailBlazers it will be the Damian Lillard show, with Gerald Henderson popping up as a sneaky value play.

LOW O/U – Celtics vs. Jazz- And here they are again, the Jazz are the lowest scoring of the night. With a total of 196, this one isn’t as low as they have been. The Celtics will rely on Jared Sullinger and IT2 to handle most of the work. For the Jazz this should be the Favors and Gobert show.

Pace of Play

Away Team

Away Pace

Home Team

Home Pace

Avg Pace

Dallas

98.80

Orlando

98.80

98.80

Detroit

100.00

Washington

101.00

100.50

New York

97.80

Brooklyn

97.70

97.75

Miami

96.00

Atlanta

100.30

98.15

Toronto

96.90

Chicago

101.20

99.05

Minnesota

98.70

Memphis

97.00

97.85

Philadelphia

101.50

New Orleans

99.50

100.50

Indiana

101.40

Oklahoma City

100.90

101.15

Charlotte

99.80

Milwaukee

97.60

98.70

Houston

101.50

Phoenix

101.10

101.30

Golden State

103.80

Portland

98.80

101.30

Denver

99.00

Sacramento

104.10

101.55

Boston

102.90

Utah

95.40

99.15

San Antonio

97.00

L.A.Lakers

99.40

98.20

HIGH PACE – Nuggets vs. Kings – I love games that pit two terrible teams against each other. The Nuggets and the Kings come in at a projected pace of 101.9. Obviously this should be the Boogie show for the Kings. The Nuggets will lean on Danilo to try and put up big numbers tonight against a weak defense.

LOW PACE – Timberwolves vs. Grizzlies – The Grizzlies are without Marc Gasol tonight, which mean Karl Anthony-Towns is in a great spot. With a projected game pace of 94.2 this is the slowest game on the night. KAT and crew will look to lock down Mike Conley as he seems to be the only credible threat for the Grizz.

Defense vs. Position

Point Guard Matchups

Rank

Best DvPG

FPPGA

Opp

Rank

Best DvPG

FPPGA

Opp

1

BOS

40.82

UTA

1

LAL

49.89

SAS

2

MIA

41.89

ATL

2

PHX

49.88

HOU

3

SAS

42.84

LAL

3

BKN

47.98

NYK

TARGET – John Wall vs. Reggie Jackson – R Jax is 13th against opposing guards and hasn’t done a lot to impress me this season. John Wall has been shouldering the load for the Wizards and put up a strong 50 DK point performance against the Jazz. I have him projected at 45 DK points tonight and love the pace of this game.

AVOID – Raul Neto vs. Isaiah Thomas – Neto has been starting for the Jazz, but only played 20 minutes last night. Trey Burke was back and should shoulder the bulk of the minutes. For the people that have been trying to push Neto off as a value play, it is time to stop.

Shooting Guard Matchups

Rank

Best DvSG

FPPGA

Opp

Rank

Best DvSG

FPPGA

Opp

1

SAS

33.23

LAL

1

SAC

43

DEN

2

UTA

35.76

BOS

2

PHX

42.01

HOU

3

MIA

36.88

ATL

3

LAL

42

SAS

TARGET – James Harden vs. Devin Booker – The Suns are ranked 29th against opposing SGs and it has become tank city in Phoenix. Booker has great offensive ability, but has struggled of the defensive side. I think Harden is one of our top fantasy scorers tonight.

AVOID – Lou Williams vs. Danny Green – The Spurs have stayed tough defensively and have been ranked among the top tier all season. Green is 1st against opposing SGs. Williams recently put up 40 DK points against the Cavs, but I don’t see a replicate performance tonight.

Small Forward Matchups

Rank

Best DvSF

FPPGA

Opp

Rank

Best DvSF

FPPGA

Opp

1

SAS

33.67

LAL

1

HOU

45.55

PHX

2

DET

35.51

WAS

2

WAS

43.44

DET

3

POR

36.54

GSW

3

CHI

43.16

TOR

TARGET – Stanley Johnson vs. Otto Porter- We all know how terrible the Wizards are against the SF position. Johnson has finally earned his spot in the SVG rotation and has been play 30+ minutes a night. At 5,800 he makes for a sneaky value play this evening.

AVOID – Rudy Gay vs. Danilo Gallinari- Danilo is 12th against opposing SFs. Rudy has been hot and cold all season, honestly you don’t know which one you are getting. With 40+ minutes of usage tonight I think he gets about 30 DK points. At a $6,600 price tag he costs to much for me to want to use him.

AVOID – Amir Johnson vs. Derrick Favors – With Kelly Olynyk out of the picture Johnson should get more usage. However, the Jazz are ranked 1st against opposing PFs. Johnson had a rough outing his last game and should have a tougher night tonight.

Center Matchups

Rank

Best DvC

FPPGA

Opp

Rank

Best DvC

FPPGA

Opp

1

UTA

42.1

BOS

1

PHI

53.33

NOP

2

MEM

42.89

MIN

2

NOP

52.23

PHI

3

SAS

44.92

LAL

3

SAC

50.78

DEN

TARGET – Nikola Vucevic vs. Zaza Pachulia – With Tobias out in Orland, Vuc is the go to. He will be in a fast pace game tonight that should allow for a lot of points and boards. The Mavs are top 10 against Cs, but Vuc has a great matchup tonight.

AVOID – Roy Hibbert vs. Tim Duncan – Hibbert has struggled for the Lakers, he was even put on the block. He gets the 1st ranked team against Cs tonight and should be extremely limited.

Lineup Quick Hits

Superstar Worth Paying For

Russell Westbrook (11,100) – All-Star MVP puts up real MVP numbers nightly. He gets a decent matchup tonight against George Hill. With his usage rate he should get around 50 DK points on the evening.

Save Big Bucks by Drafting

Kyle Anderson (3,100) – Anderson should get the start for a doubtful Kawhi Leonard tonight. He hit value last night with 15 DK points. Tonight he should go for more against a weak Lakers D.

Dud of the Night

Klay Thompson (7,600) – Klay is the 3 ball champ this year, but will have the worst matchup out of the Splash Brothers tonight. His scoring relies so heavily on how many actual points he scores on the night.

Latest Headlines From

Shaun Livingston • PG • GS

Shaun Livingston announces retirement from NBA

Livingston made the announcement on Instagram, putting an end to his 15-year career. He was waived this summer by the Warriors in order to clear space to add D'Angelo Russell to the roster. Livingston wasn't drawing much interest but there have been reports that coach Steve Kerr hopes he remains with the organization, potentially as an assistant coach. Livingston was with eight different organizations after being drafted fourth overall in the 2004 draft by the Clippers, but most notably was with the Warriors for the past five seasons, where he won all three of his career championships.

Several teams were reportedly interested, but Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Johnson ultimately landed with the Pistons. He shined in the Big 3 League and ended up walking away with an MVP trophy playing in the 3-on-3 format. While he'll contribute some scoring from Detroit's backcourt, he likely will take on a bench role and would be a pure matchup play on a night-to-night basis. Last season with the Rockets, Johnson averaged 22 minutes per game with 6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.